How plants respond to stimuli. The Ninth Annual Symposium on Current Topics in Plant Biochemistry and Physiology sponsored by the University of Missouri Interdisciplinary Program in Plant Biochemistry and Physiology, the US Department of Agriculture, and the National Science Foundation, Columbia, MO, USA, April 4-7, 1990.
With the rapid progress in the identification of the molecular components of calcium and protein kinase regulatory systems, it is presently an exciting time for those studying plant signal transduction. A clear message that was conveyed at the meeting was the need for an interdisciplinary approach to the problems currently facing researchers in this area. Thus, while the powerful methods of plant molecular biology allow for rapid advances in the identification of new molecules, this approach needs to be combined with careful biochemical and physiological analyses. This was exemplified by the large number of protein kinases described at the meeting but the surprisingly few reports of physiological function of phosphorylation. Similarly, while calcium has emerged as a major regulatory molecule in plants, little is known regarding the exact molecular mechanisms of calcium and calcium-modulatory protein action. These are clearly areas for future study that should reveal the elusive pathways that lie between stimuli and responses in the plant cell.
Roberts
D M
DM
Department of Biochemistry, University of Tennessee, Knoxville 37996-0840.
Weaver
C D
CD
D002118:Calcium / Q000494:pharmacology; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism; D010766:Phosphorylation; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena; D010944:Plants / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014481:United States
D004247:DNA; D011494:Protein Kinases; D002118:Calcium